Sunday, August 3, 2014

A friend of mine went diving recently and she told me about how her experience changed the way she saw everything.

We're so caught up in our everyday lives that we forget to see what's around us.

And when we go deep sea diving and find ourselves in a space that one can only describe as infinite and blue, it makes us feel small. And our problems seem silly.

But, since we're all not fortunate enough to experience this, we tend to get lost in our own lives and think that the world revolves around us.

So take a moment.

And think.

I did.

I couldn't sleep one night last week.

And it was at that strange time when you couldn't be sure if it's night or morning.

And all of a sudden it was like all the birds of the world had woken up.

And let me add that this wasn't the chirpy little tune you hear in Cinderella-like movies where the birds sound like they are singing nursery rhymes and lullabies while helping Cindy get dressed.

In my case it was crows.

Only crows. Cawing.

And thankfully not attempting to help me get dressed.

Which made me wonder.

Did they all just wake up from their slumber?

Do birds actually sleep?

How do they sleep?

Standing?

Isn't that weird?

It was such a simple question and even though I thought it would be obvious that they would sleep, I didn't know anything about how that happened.

And so I googled it.

Here's what happens:

Some birds have special flexor tendons that help them hold onto branches that help them sleep standing up.

Some float on water.

Some of them sleep with their head in their feathers.

And some birds like owls are just party animals. They stay up all night.

That's it.

After this I went on to how do fish sleep and other interesting facts that most people don't care enough to know.

But you should care.

About the birds.

And the bees.

And the birds and the bees.

Here's what wikipedia says about the coining of the phrase:

According to tradition, the birds and the bees is a metaphorical story sometimes told to children in an attempt to explain the mechanics and good consequences of sexual intercourse through reference to easily observed natural events. For instance, bees carry and deposit pollen into flowers, a visible and easy-to-explain example of male fertilization. Another example, birds lay eggs, a similarly visible and easy-to-explain example of female ovulation.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

I finally finally finally watched The Grand Budapest Hotel today.
Somehow everyone I know had watched it on a flight.
And I was contemplating whether or not to travel soon just to watch this movie.
Since I was too lazy to be a pirate.

Monday, July 21, 2014

I received a book in the mail today.
At first I thought flipkart made a mistake that I was planning on ignoring.
But then I realised that I have kind friends who like to send me stuff in the mail.
Just because.

I haven't started reading it yet.
As always I flipped over to the last page first.
And it made me smile.

Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.

I've done a mix of illustration and hand lettering and it was a lot of fun.

It was a lot of work for one person so I worked on it with the wonderful Rabanne (he makes furniture too) who was just the best guy to hang out with - while working, traveling, lunching and dinnering (my English isn't bad. I just have a talent for making up words).

If you were in Bombay this morning, you experienced your first rain of 2014.
Now I'm not the biggest fan of rain but I love how it's back every June.
Like it's keeping a promise.
Like Terminator.

This year I'm actually pretty happy with the early arrival of rain since I pretty much was ready to slap summer in the face.
And everything looks cleaner and greener.
Awesomesauce!

So how do I truly feel about rain? Deep within my heart?
Well, rain and I can be friends as long as I'm indoors.
And if I'm going out, a little heads up would be great.
But, as we all know weather forecasts are almost never correct.
Which sort of defeats the purpose of a forecast.
And that's risky business, people.

Sunday, May 25, 2014

It was my birthday yesterday but I'm pretending that it's not over yet.
Because it ain't over till it's over.
But it is over so that didn't make any sense.
I just wanted to throw in a Lenny Kravitz song title.

The birthday was amazing.
I had everyone singing to my tune (see video)

To summarise it was full of

LoveCakePresents

What more could a girl ask for?

I don't just love presents for obvious reasons but because it's like a test of friendship.
It tells me how well someone knows me.
So if a friend got me nothing, well, thats -100 points to Slytherin.

And now I'm just writing nonsense so I can go back to pretending it ain't over.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

I've always been a little shy so I'd never be the first person on the dance floor but I'd get there at some point.

Growing up, I did enjoy my dance class - I think what I learnt could be categorized as Contemporary Jazz.

Later on I even went for a couple of Salsa classes which was fun.

And more recently I tried Zumba.

Now I don't know whether to call it a dance class or an exercise class though it doesn't matter since what I was doing there was neither one.

But let me tell you, one of the dances I was fascinated by but never really got down to perfecting was Breakdance.

Well, to be honest that's not how the story goes.

My sister just wanted a pair of those fingerless gloves so she could pretend to be Michael Jackson and breakdance.

And me?

I just wanted to do everything she did.

And then this morning while I was browsing I came across a video of monks breakdancing in an annual tribute to Adam 'MCA' Yauch of the Beastie Boys (who was a devout Buddhist and fought for Tibetan independence).

Friday, May 2, 2014

Well, I'll be honest,
I haven't been practicing being less awkward.
I don't know if I'm crazy or normal but I still give people a half hug - where I just slide in from the side and hold their waist, avoiding possible chest to chest contact.
If you weren't paying attention, you wouldn't even know what happened.

You'd think...

Was that a hug?
Was I just encircled by a gust of wind?
Or was it Superman?

I know you're done with it but do you really have to torture the rest of us with that information?

I can say that I really don't know what you're going through as a pregnant person.

But for some strange reason, whenever I'm having a conversation with someone who's let's say 'with child', I just start talking like I understand what they're going through.

I know you (with your hormones) want to slap me with a big pomfret but I'm just trying to understand what you're going through. I usually compare childbirth to the most painful experiences in my life (don't worry, I won't name them) and ask if it's anything close to that.

I once went shopping for dresses with a then pregnant friend.

I tried on an XS instead of my usual size which is S and boy oh boy, did I get a backache while trying to squeeze myself out of that dress.

And when I told my pregnant friend this, I got this look from her.

Cue: Pomfret slap.

And here's a recent conversation I had with a currently pregnant friend:

Friend: Nowadays I like wearing dresses. It's just more comfortable.

Me: Yea, I know what you mean. I too always wear dresses when I go out for dinner [holding my stomach and thinking of my food baby].

I can't have something holding my stomach when I'm eating. It's just so uncomfortable.

Cue: Pomfret slap.

While this was happening, another friend of mine started laughing and signaled me to shut up and stop making an ass of myself.

Well, to be fair, babies are babies, whether made up of human stuff or food.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

But when I saw these mini cookbooks online which were so well designed with their little illustrations, I just had to buy them.
And Aku's birthday seemed like the perfect excuse to order them.
They're great because each one focuses on one ingredient.

Aku,
I know you love eggs and strawberries.
And I know like me you're not the biggest fan of tomato, but after watching this video I thought you may want to cut tomatoes just for kicks.Like a ninja.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

I am not one of those women who can't stop gushing about the cuteness of a baby.

But seeing this turned me into one of them.

If you're ever having a really crappy day and desperately need to turn that frown into a smile, this is what you need to look at.

Photographer Grace Chon photographed her cute as a cotton ball baby, Jasper and her dog Zoey in many coordinated costumes giving us an amazing photo series that will make you want to reach into your computer and give them all a nice big hug.

And if you think there's nothing cuter than Asian babies, check out former Masterchef winner Adam Liaw's instagram feed. He had dressed his baby up as Pharell, Matt Preston, Salvador Dali and even compared him to a pineapple.

Which is why it's almost upsetting when this chef posts photos of food.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

A friend of mine sent me this article with amazingly funny drawings by Marion Fayolle.
What's great about it is how provocative and absurd it is at the same time.
The surreal but easily understandable illustrations just bring a smile to your face.

by Horyon Lee

And then while browsing I came across this article with oil paintings by Horyon Lee.
The motion shown in these paintings flirt a little with your mind.
Who knew paintings could be so seductive and beautiful?

Both of these pieces of art are so suggestive.
Same same. But different.